JCC Catalog Description: Provides a fundamental knowledge of financial concerns including financial services, stocks, bonds, budgeting, insurance, real estate, estate and tax planning, buying on credit, borrowing, saving, investing intelligently, and...JCC Course Objectives:JCC Associate Degree Outcomes (ADO’s): The Board of Trustees of Jackson Community College has determined that all JCC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills while enrolled in the college. ADO #1 will be addressed in this course...1 JACKSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUA 111 50 PERSONAL FINANCE FALL 2011 (9/19 – 12/12/2011) Professor: Suzanne E Kiess, CPA, MBA E-Mail: [email protected] JCC Office: Whiting Hall 150D JCC Phone: (517) 796-8608 Class Meeting: 1:00 to 2:49 PM, Mondays in JW 104, Wednesdays in JW 168 Required Text Materials: Personal Finance, Madura, 4th edition Computer Requirements: Microsoft Excel, reliable computer & Internet access Office Hours: Mon & Wed 11 AM to 1 PM and Tues & Thur 12 to 3 PM JCC Catalog Description: Provides a fundamental knowledge of financial concerns including financial services, stocks, bonds, budgeting, insurance, real estate, estate and tax planning, buying on credit, borrowing, saving, investing intelligently, and retirement. Analysis of personal objectives to financial planning will be discussed and put into practice. Prerequisites: ENG 085*and ENG 090* JCC Course Objectives: 1. To prepare personal financial goals including short, intermediate and long term 2. To construct a personal budget 3. To analyze the current and future housing requirements for the student’s family 4. To complete a risk analysis and suitable insurance plan 5. To assess risk tolerance and utilize it to construct an investment plan 6. To utilize the computer for assessing the appropriateness of investment opportunities 7. To present a cohesive, written financial plan (ADO 1) JCC Associate Degree Outcomes (ADO’s): The Board of Trustees of Jackson Community College has determined that all JCC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills while enrolled in the college. ADO #1 will be addressed in this course, which represents writing clearly, concisely and intelligently. Methods to achieve objectives: discussion, lecture, team problem solving, group practice work, weekly projects and assignments, and preparation of a final personal financial plan Academic Honesty: Be careful not to plagiarize. Plagiarism is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as “…using another’s ideas as one’s own…” All assignments related to this class are to be your own work. The JCC Catalog defines academic honesty as “ …the ethical behavior2 that includes (students’) producing their own work and not representing others’ work as their own…” The consequences of academic dishonesty include failure for the assignment and/or failure in the course overall. GRADING POLICY: Requirements: Grading Scale: 4.0 A 93-100% Weekly Assignments – 10 @ 20 points 200 3.5 AB 88-92% Group Activities – 5 @ 10 points 50 3.0 B 83-87% Class Participation – 25 @ 2 points 50 2.5 BC 78-82% Your Financial Plan – compilation, presentation & reflection 50 2.0 C 73-77% 1.5 CD 68-72% 1.0 D 63-67% 0.5 DF 58-62% Total Points Available 350 0.0 F 0-57% Weekly Assignments: Each week you will complete a variety of assignments related to the topic discussed that week. These assignments will include research and writing, cases and projects, web based assignments and Excel based assignments. See below for a complete schedule of proposed weekly assignments for BUA 111 this semester. These weekly assignments are due by midnight on Sundays, must be prepared using Microsoft Excel or Word, and submitted through JetNet. Group Activities and Class Participation: Your attendance and participation is a critical part of our class. Your attendance will translate into participation points. From time to time, we will work on certain topics in groups. If you are not in class, you will not earn points for these group activities. At all times during the class, you will be observed and your participation recorded. I will keep attendance and make specific suggestions and requests of you to get involved. This is one of the most important parts of the class and may be the deciding factor in your success. Your Financial Plan: The final project and final exam for this class is the preparation of “Your Financial Plan”. We will be working all the way through the class on elements of this final plan working toward completion of the plan in Chapter 21. The final project is due no later than midnight Sunday 12/11/2011. Due Dates, Late Policy and Grading: All assignments are due by midnight on Sundays. If you turn in your work past the due date, you will not receive points. If you are experiencing a genuine emergency such as a death in the family, find yourself admitted to the hospital, find yourself in jail, etc., then please contact me as soon as possible. Feeling busy and overwhelmed with college, family and life is not an emergency (although it certainly does seem like it sometimes!). I will complete all grading promptly, usually within 48 hours with all points submitted in JetNet. Textbook Excel Template: Our textbook includes a large Excel template for some of our assignments. You will find this Excel file on the cd included with your textbook at the back of the book. I will also upload this Excel file into JetNet for easy finding and downloading. It is a large file, and yes, you are required to use it. If you need help with Excel, please let me know early so that I can help you get off to a good start.3 MyFinanceLab: We are not using “myfinancelab” available at www.myfinacnelab.com, which can be used with our textbook. There is an extra $100 textbook cost for this website. We will be working on our own using Microsoft Word and Excel to complete our BUA 111 assignments and not using “myfinancelab”. E-Mail/Computer Caution: Always include your first and last name, and please put “BUA 111” in the subject line. Always save your work and have a back-up copy. Please ask questions and get help early with any concerns you may have including computer problems. Call, e-mail, stop by…I am here to help! Center for Student Success: Students requiring special assistance